Corn is a whole grain food that is high in fibre, low in fat and provides our body with essential nutrients, beneficial methinks!?

Corn provides our body with two important carotenoids: lutein and leaxanthin which both support our eyes, reducing the chance of eye disease and slow cataracts. Lutein also reduces the chance of stroke or heart attack as it prevents hardening of arteries.

Corn also contains folate which supports out cardiovascular system and vitamin B1 that helps our body convert carbs into energy and aids the functioning of our heart, muscles and nervous systems.

As you can see corn is high in fibre; both soluble and insoluble. Dietary fibre is the soluble fibre which reduces chance of heart disease and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure levels, whereas the insoluble fibre helps prevent constipation. This can also be good for dieting as the fibre makes you feel more satisfied, meaning you eat less, aiding weight loss.

An average sized corn ear only contains about 80 Calories and over 10% of our RDA of fibre!!

REMEMBER!! You don’t have to do your daily workout routine all at the one time, you can break it up over your day as you please, this is just easier for me as the morning before work is the most time I have in the day! For example you could do 50 sit ups in the morning, 13 push ups at lunch, 50 sit ups at dinner and 13 push ups in the evening. Do what suits you best, you will still reap the same results! Designing your workout plan to suit your timetable is essential in order to help you stick to the plan and not miss a day!

Don’t forget to take the stairs at any chance you get today, that ELEVATOR IS YOUR ENEMY! 🙂 Lucky for me I work on the fifth floor of a very big building, all the more walking!

Get in those pints of lemon water too! They will leave you feeling energised , rejuvenated and it is a great alkaline booster, improves digestion, cleanses your liver, boosts your immune system, helping to fight infections and provides the body with antioxidants.

I was running a little late this morning with my new routine in place so may not of drank my morning pint of lemon water but there’s always the rest of the day to squeeze it in! Its never to late! If you haven’t started already you always can now! 🙂

To add to this try drinking a pint of lemon water before each main meal of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), everyday for three weeks too! This will help help you detox your body along with many other health benefits.

Doesn’t seem too hard .. Right? ?
…well I’ll keep you posted on how its going, day one starting tomorrow!
Why don’t you give it a try with me!?

Recently I came across this range of new snacks called the Good Snack , the healthy option! They make a range of snack sized bags that contain a range of different peanuts, chocolate raisins, dried fruit and seed mixes. They don’t contain anything artificial!!

Remember! Snacking is good, you just need to snack good. Meaning… Snacking is not a bad thing in fact it can be better than eating three big meals without snacking and it helps metabolism too, however you need to choose the right food to snack on.

Supplements, these are consumed in order to provide one with nutrients that they may not get from their normal diet or may be lacking in.Is it really necessary for them though? I mean is it not easier for an individual to simply change their diet in order to fulfil their nutrient needs? Should one not aim to have a ‘balanced diet’ rather than consume supplements in order to replace actual food benefits. An individual that has a ‘balanced diet’, which is one that satisfies all nutrient requirements, does not need to take supplements. So this leaves me thinking…what is the real need for supplements other than replacing food? One could argue that they do not like/eat certain foods containing essential nutrients to the diet, however other than certain cases such as pregnancy, this can be worked around as nutrients are found in a wide range and variety of different foods.
Are these supplements taking away from the natural way of obtaining our nutrients or is it simply helpful, handier, healthier and the way to go? Im sitting on the fence on this one myself.
Certain supplements are proven to have positive effects on one’s health, some negative and others no effect at all.
For example, the taking of Vitamin E supplements by men, was proven to actually increase the males chance of developing prostate cancer. Other supplements such as chrondrotin that many people take in order to relieve joint pain has also been proven to have no benefit on a person at all.
In the USA , dietary supplements are categorized as a food, however this is not the case for the rest as the world as supplements, tablets, drugs and other words are used to categorize these nutrient supplements.
The taking of dietary supplements requires knowledge and therefore you should consult your doctor before you begin taking them as they can cause problems such as over consumption especially of fat-soluble vitamins and minerals leading to more health problems such as build up in the body and also can cause problems if mixed with other medication or drugs.

So supplements…. Are they for you? Do you really need to take them? Are they benefiting you and your health? Have you consulted with your doctor/medical professional? Is taking supplements taking from you having a ‘balanced diet’ ? All these questions float around in my head . And I’m not left feeling satisfied I know enough about the advantages and disadvantages of taking dietary supplements. Im not saying I have never took dietary supplements before, however Im definitely guilty of taking such supplements merely because I was advised to. I definitely didn’t notice a difference from taking them and never checked with my doctor to see if they were having effect either.
So while I may not provide much information on the advantages and disadvantages remember just to have a little think at the questions that float around in my head and see if your mind is changed next time your in the drugstore!

Back to School!! Which means back to early mornings, the early morning traffic, getting uniforms ready, making lunches, and the rest of the commotion. But ensuring your children have a nutritious lunch can be stressful and hard at times, however did you know how nutritious a normal sandwich containing cheese, ham and lettuce really is?

Yes, a nutritional lunch is key for growth and development of your children and a Cheese, Ham and Lettuce Sambo will pack a nutritious one!